


Key

by suecsit



Category: Cobra Kai
Genre: M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 18:06:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14857635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suecsit/pseuds/suecsit
Summary: Johnny gives Daniel a key to the Cobra Kai dojo.Reminder: karate is a word combining two Chinese characters—kara, meaning empty, and te, meaning hand. This chapter was almost named "Te."





	Key

**Author's Note:**

> This is still a slow burn, but things heat up a little. 
> 
> It's best if you read the previous episodes before reading this:
> 
> Bert and Bert Part II  
> Aisha  
> Topanga  
> Sam
> 
> Thank you all for the comments and kudos I've received on this series. They mean so much.
> 
> This chapter (and maybe earlier ones, too) is partly inspired by a few writers whose smut I admire in fan fiction and published work: Jordan Grant, Nym, obsidianpen, and Patricia Duncker, who wrote the amazing book Hallucinating Foucault. I couldn't have done this without them. And the idea behind the "before you/after you" line is a reference from Bryan Fuller's Hannibal.

“Key”

“So you’re ok holding practice here?” Johnny opened the door to the Cobra Kai dojo and let Daniel walk in first. 

“Yeah, sure,” Daniel said, a bit distracted. 

“You’re not going to, I don’t know, try to improve the feng shway or whatever it is, right?” Johnny followed Daniel into the main room, bending over on the way in to pick up some mail that had been dropped in the door slot. 

Daniel was staring at his phone, probably checking work email. Like always, Johnny wanted to knock it out of his hand.

Daniel had agreed to take a personal day, or at least a half of a personal day, from the dealership. It was finally time to face the music and decide where they wanted their joint programs to train. Daniel knew that they couldn’t learn karate in a pool, and the one meeting they had there hadn’t been ideal. They both agreed to have their students meet at Cobra Kai for the foreseeable future. 

“Larusso!”

“What? Sorry,” he said, putting his phone in his pocket. 

“What the hell is so important that you can’t put your technology up for five minutes?” Johnny demanded. 

“We’re thinking about opening another dealership near Malibu. Had to talk to the insurance guy. Get some quotes.”

“Well, can’t you just, I don’t know, find balance and listen to the vibrations of the universe or something….”

“You said you don’t know Terry Silver, but you sound an awful lot like him sometimes,” Daniel muttered.

“The one who got us banned? Why?”

“He used to make fun of Mr. Miyagi’s karate.”

Johnny shook his head. “I’m not making fun of your teacher. I’m making fun of you.”

“Same difference.”

“Old habits die hard,” he said. Still, he made a mental note to cut back on the snappy comebacks about Eastern philosophy.

“Anyway, here’s the office,” Johnny gestured at the back, letting Daniel pass. Now that his phone was away, Daniel’s eyes assessed the space with more attention. Johnny felt like he was being inspected rather having a meeting with a business partner.

Perhaps calling them business partners was premature. It wasn’t like anybody had signed anything or formally agreed to it. 

“Something to drink?” Johnny pulled a Coors out of the minifridge. 

Daniel sat down in a chair across from Johnny’s desk. “Depends.”

“On what?”

“What you have.”

“Afraid I’ll get you drunk and have my way with you on the mats out there?” Johnny chided. He reached in and grabbed a Coke left from Miguel’s stash and then tossed it over to Daniel. 

“Wow, that sounds like a very specific fantasy,” Daniel said as he caught the drink. “Speaking of which shouldn’t we talk about how your student walked in on us?”

“Bert? It’s ok. Bert’s seen me in some pretty compromising positions before.”

“Like?” 

“Not important. The point is, he’ll keep quiet, at least for now. He didn’t rat on me before until it was absolutely necessary.”

“That’s not that comforting.”

He sighed. “Whatever. Anyway, this is for you,” he said, and for the second time he threw something at Daniel, who missed it since he was taking a swig from the Coke.

Daniel leaned over and picked up the small piece of metal. It was a key.

“This is a key,” he stated.

“As always, very observant.”

“No, I mean, this is a key to…Cobra Kai?”

Johnny smiled.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

Johnny shrugged. “Couple of reasons. First, if you want to teach with me, and I’m not entirely sure you do—“ Daniel looked like he was about to interrupt, but Johnny held his hand up to stop him. “You’ll obviously need access to the dojo.”

There was a moment before Johnny spoke again.

“And second,” he cleared his throat, “I’m not putting you where I want you anymore. You should be here because it’s your choice.”

“I don’t get it.”

Johnny kept his beer in hand and circled around to lean back on the desk. “You said at the pool that I just put you where I want you—“

“I didn’t mean—“

“Sure you did.”

“Johnny, hold on,” Daniel said, putting his own hand up and setting the Coke down. The key remained in his other hand. He gripped it tightly and then slid it into his shirt pocket without a second thought. “I shouldn’t have said that. That wasn’t about you, ok? It’s…something I’ve been dealing with since I was a kid. Not feeling like I had a choice. My mom moved us out here without asking me. She left to take care of my Jersey family without asking me.”

“Poor you,” Johnny mocked, but he listened intently. Maybe they were finally getting somewhere. 

“That’s not what I mean. My mom’s the best, I told you that. But I always followed people wherever they went. I even followed Mr. Miyagi to Okinawa. And then it just…became habit.” Daniel propped his foot up on his opposite knee and his head leaned back against the wall. The front chair legs came up slightly when he rocked back. It was a childish habit he had never shaken. Amanda was always afraid he’d bust his head open. “And then when you have kids you do the same thing: show up or follow them where they want to go.” Daniel stopped suddenly when Johnny smiled. “Don’t start,” he warned, blushing a little.

“Start what?”

“Ok, my kids are spoiled. Sue me. It’s something I’m working on.”

“Who the hell am I to lecture anyone about parenting?”

“True.”

“Anyway, if you want to be with me, you have to use your own key. If you don’t want to teach together, it’s ok. I pressured you. You can back out.”

“No, I do want to. I was just in a bad mood that day,” Daniel admitted. “And I trust you. I mean….with Sam.”

“Good. Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it?”

“Shut up, Johnny. And toss me a beer.”

Johnny went back behind his chair to retrieve it. 

*****

It was late. Daniel had settled on the couch at home with some paperwork for the new dealership. Amanda was on the phone with a friend, and Sam and Antonio were entertaining themselves online somewhere. 

It was quiet. Too quiet. He kept reading the same sentence on the page, but it didn’t seem to compute. Tossing the papers aside, he got up to fetch something to drink from the kitchen. 

On the way he found his keys in a bowl next to the sofa and picked them up. Without realizing it, he found himself holding the one to Johnny’s dojo and turning it over and over in his hand. It had been a week since Johnny had handed it over to him, and he kept forgetting it was real.

It was kind of like the mark on his neck that he covered with Sam’s beige foundation. Not that it would work forever. It was a Band-Aid over a proverbial bullet hole. He and Amanda hadn’t been together sexually for several weeks, and he hoped the spot would heal before they resumed their normal routine. 

His wife knew something was up, but she didn’t press him for details. She assumed it was the long hours and the fallout over Louie being fired from the dealership. Daniel had been fielding phone calls from Larusso cousins, aunts, uncles, and even his own mother for over a month.

Amanda did know he and Johnny were on better terms. She also knew they were going to teach together at Cobra Kai. 

That was why Daniel finally called out to her, letting her know he was going to pick something up he forgot at the Reseda dojo. She just yelled at him to drive safe and returned to the phone.

*****

As he drove toward the dojo and the man inside it, he remembered that his mother had called California the Garden of Eden. It was her way of pretending he had a choice in the move. 

He remembered how they had pulled over to look at the St. Louis Gateway Arch halfway through the trip west. “It’s the gateway to something big for us,” his mom had said, her arms around his shoulders, as they stared up at the overwhelming height and singularity. Daniel recalled how that one arch seemed to signify the fine line between his past and his future. 

History couldn’t be that easy to divide, but it often was. There was before California and after California. 

There was before Johnny and after Johnny.

*****  
Daniel was still surprised when the key worked. 

He turned it in the lock quietly, both hoping and dreading he was right about Johnny spending some evenings there after meeting with Miguel for individual lessons. 

Daniel looked to the left and saw a bike propped up against the wall. He had been right.

Miguel emerged from the office laughing, Johnny right behind him. They both stopped abruptly upon seeing Daniel.

“You’re here,” Johnny said, just as surprised as Daniel was when the key had worked.

“Observant, aren’t you,” Daniel quipped. 

Miguel looked back and forth at the two of them. “Anyway, thanks sensei,” Miguel said and retrieved his bike, nodding slightly at Daniel but not making eye contact with him as he exited. 

Daniel knew Johnny had talked to Miguel and the other advanced students (those not required to attend the pool exercises) about combining dojos. He had also come clean about his relationship to Robby. It had taken some time for them to adjust, but they were getting there. Miguel’s exit was quiet but accepting.  
Daniel and Johnny faced each other from across the mat, just as they had done at the beginning of the school year. 

Neither spoke at first.

Daniel cleared his throat finally, “I chose to come here,” he said.

Johnny walked over to him and stopped a foot shy of Daniel. 

Daniel’s hand reached out to grasp Johnny’s hand and pull it to his lips. He kissed the top of the knuckles the way Johnny had kissed his own that night in the parking lot.

Johnny made a soft noise and then stepped in closer. He wrapped his arms around Daniel like he would a favorite pillow and inhaled, taking in the scent. He could have sworn he still smelled chlorine and sand. Then he pulled back a little and waited. This time Daniel had to initiate. He wasn’t doing it for him.

Daniel was dressed in a comfortable navy long-sleeved shirt and soft grey cotton pants that looked suspiciously like pajamas. Johnny wondered if Daniel’s choice had been made on an impulse. Then he realized he didn’t care.

Daniel leaned in and gently touched his lips to Johnny’s. Then he smiled, his arms on Johnny’s biceps and his face resolute. It was time to walk through the arch.

“I’m not that sheltered,” he said.

“What?” 

“You called me sheltered. At the pool.”

“Oh.”

“So you can touch me. I won’t bruise.”

“Bad choice of words,” Johnny mumbled, reaching out tentatively for the drawstring on Daniel’s pants. He then sat down on the mat, tugging Daniel down with him. 

His hand lingered on the drawstring. Suddenly Johnny felt hesitant. “You’re gonna to have to tell me what it is….” He wasn’t one for talking in these situations, but the comment about bruising had made him cautious. “What it is you want,” he finished, his voice breaking a little. He didn’t want to repeat his mistake at the pool.

The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Daniel. 

Daniel smiled at him, as if he had said the words out loud. “You said your fantasy was to have your way with me on the mats..." he offered. 

Johnny still hesitated. Daniel's hand reached out to the one that held the string. He pushed it closer to his skin and held it there. "I trust you,” Daniel confessed. 

Johnny pulled on the elastic string, his hand gently dipping into the cotton waistband. He stopped to look at Daniel before going any farther. Daniel nodded and lay back on the mat, his eyes never leaving Johnny’s face. 

Johnny froze. He didn’t know what to do. Or he did and he was afraid to do it.

When they fought in the tournament so many years ago, Johnny felt in complete control, at least up until the last match. His kicks and blocks and punches were works of art crafted and shaped by Kreese. Even the violence that he inflicted had a certain choreography to it, a certain rhythm. 

All he knew was he wanted that back, but this time he wanted to use it for pleasure, not pain. His hand moved lower, cupping Daniel’s balls. 

Daniel arched into his touch, a gasp escaping his lips. His voice, his sarcasm, his defenses…all gone from him in an instant as his mind emptied. Like for every punch he’d ever taken, there were these hands trying to heal and inspire and change him. He felt those hands on his length, wrapping around skin and moving slowly then quickly as his breath failed to keep up.

He thought he heard Johnny saying things to him, things he wished he remembered after it was over. Instead, his mind stayed blank, and he was lost, the words simply soothing him and the hands cradling him as the urgency built. 

It was like tumbling off a hill but without the sharp and disastrous landing of bone on hard ground. Only this time when he came to, when he felt himself emptied and spilt and completely dissolved, he was on a cushioned mat, blue eyes watching him with what looked like deep affection. 

Daniel held his gaze, his breath evening out. He reached out with a limp arm and touched Johnny’s face, tracing the lines on the forehead and around the eyes, almost like he was confirming this was an adult before him instead of the young blonde who competed with him for a girl so many years ago. Right now he couldn't even remember the girl's name. 

Johnny smiled at him, chuckling a little. They were hearing each other's thoughts. 

Then Daniel’s hand dropped, exhausted. The brunette closed his eyes, committing the feel of the mat beneath him, the scent of his own body, and the way Johnny’s hands had felt to memory in case it never happened again.

When he opened them, Johnny had retrieved a clean sports towel from the bathroom after dampening it in the sink. Daniel held out his hand for it, but Johnny swatted it away. He gently wiped the evidence of infidelity from Daniel’s skin, pausing as if to admire his own handiwork.

Daniel didn’t mind. It felt almost as thrilling as the hand job had been.

“How do you do it?” Daniel said, his voice rough as if he hadn’t used it in days. 

“Hm?” Johnny murmured, finishing and then tossing the towel aside. 

Daniel shook his head and pulled his pajama pants up, tying the drawstring. 

“Tell me.”

“Your hands.”

“What about them?” Johnny asked. He could feel a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth and he suppressed it. 

“You can do anything with them. Anything. I think now I know why they invented karate. For people like you. Your hands never make mistakes.” Daniel sat up slowly and clumsily, his own body still a puddle that he tried to contain without spilling. He took one of Johnny’s hands in his own and turned it palm up. “Who needs weapons when you have these?” He reached for the towel that Johnny had put aside and wiped the palm gently, trying to care for it the way Johnny had cared for him. 

“Is that a compliment?” 

“Maybe.”

“You’re getting better at that.”

“What?”

“Saying nice things.” 

“Hey, I told you your students were lucky to have you—“

Johnny leaned in and pulled Daniel closer, almost in his lap. “Thank you.” 

“I’m the one who should be thanking you. Or your hands,” Daniel teased, shoving Johnny playfully. 

“No, I mean, for trusting me. I never would have thought…” his voice trailed off. 

“Neither would I.” 

Daniel suddenly remembered the night he threw his bike into the dumpster and yelled at his mother for moving him across the country. The night he had yelled at her, had raged at the universe for putting him in Johnny Lawrence’s path. 

Thirty-four years had passed since Daniel’s mother had called California the Garden of Eden. 

He’d have to tell her she wasn’t entirely wrong.


End file.
